Family plans Mexican restaurant for Acushnet Avenue

A Colombian couple that met 25 years ago in the Our Lady of Guadalupe parish and fell in love with New Bedford is planning to open a Mexican restaurant on Acushnet Avenue this spring.

Natalie Sherman

NEW BEDFORD — A Colombian couple that met 25 years ago in the Our Lady of Guadalupe parish and fell in love with New Bedford is planning to open a Mexican restaurant on Acushnet Avenue this spring.

Owner Fernando Giraldo said he has no experience in the food industry but has been saving for years to one day open a family restaurant with longtime partner Martha Gonzalez that their children can work in and inherit.

"It's like a dream," said Giraldo, 63, who moved to New Bedford in 1986 and works as a painter. "Never think about failing. Think that it's going to be good."

The designs for the 1262 Acushnet Avenue property, which must be approved by the building department before renovation starts, call for a 50-seat dining area and bar.

On Monday, the Licensing Board will hold a public hearing about the transfer of the liquor license to the restaurant.

The couple is hoping to open Adriana's Mexican Restaurant in May, in time for the birthday of their daughter, for whom the restaurant is named.

The couple settled on Mexican food because it seems popular, said Gonzalez, 58, a manager at the Greater New Bedford Health Center's Wellness Connection.

Giraldo said he expects to hire about 10 people and has sunk about $450,000 into the project, a cost that includes the restaurant property and another lot for parking.